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by Elliotte Rusty Harold.
Original Post: #419 Red-necked Phalarope in Two Counties
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This was one of those tricky lifers. You’re not quite sure when you saw it first because you’re not quite sure about the first sighting. I think my first Red-necked Phalarope was at San Joaquin Wildlife Refuge on April 27. However those birds weren’t in breeding plumage, and I didn’t have a scope. I can’t say with absolute certainty that they weren’t Wilson’s Phalaropes (though I do think they matched Red-necked much more closely.)
Fortunately just a few days later I was in Santa Clara County on business, and as I like to do I went to Mountain View Shoreline before work. Usually I start out at the end of San Antonio road and walk around the lake. However, today I decided to take a different route and explore the area to the north along the 101. About halfway to the next exit, I found some ponds, and in one of them a flock of about 20 Red-necked Phalaropes were feeding. This time most of them were in full breeding plumage so even without a scope there was no doubt. I even got some recognizable pictures:
Total species count for that morning was 28:
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Snowy Egret
White-tailed Kite
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Red-necked Phalarope
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Forster’s Tern
American Crow
Marsh Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Common Yellowthroat
Red-winged Blackbird
Bullock’s Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
I saw still more Phalaropes the next weekend back in Orange County, but that will have to wait for the next entry.
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